The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has signed a rehabilitation contract with an international company, Maire Tecnimont SpA, for the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC).

“Mr President promised Nigerians he will fix the refineries,” NNPC boss Mallam Mele Kyari said during the contract signing ceremony.

“We are happy to deliver on this Presidential mandate. We’ll continue this process to also deliver on both Warri and Kaduna Refineries,” he said.

The signing is coming a few weeks after the Federal Executive Council approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the project.

However, the move was rejected by many experts and a former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar who said the company should be sold off.

Petroleum Minister Timipre Sylva in March said the project will be completed in three phases, the first within 18 months taking the refinery to 90% production capacity, with the second and final phases carried out within 24 months and 44 months respectively, Sylva told reporters in Abuja.

“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery … and … it was approved by council today,” the minister said.

Slyva said funding will come from the state-oil company’s cash flow, budget provisions and Afreximbank.

In January NNPC was in talks to raise around $1 billion to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt and that Afreximbank is looking into a facility for the refurbishment.

The country opened bids in December for investors to carry out engineering work for the revamp.

Nigeria has four refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd): one in the north at Kaduna and three in the oil-rich Niger delta region at Warri and Port Harcourt. The Port Harcourt complex consists of two plants with a combined capacity of 210,000 bpd.

In April 2020, they were all shut pending rehabilitation while the refineries lost some 167 billion naira a year early and only Warri processed any oil.